


[META] Debunking the One Product Planet (or why the districts have to have more than one industry)

by FanficAllergy, RoseFyre



Series: Hunger Games Metas [2]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Meta, One Product Planet, Tropes, hunger games meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 16:45:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4884229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficAllergy/pseuds/FanficAllergy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseFyre/pseuds/RoseFyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever watch the movies and go, "How in the hell do they have Mahogany?  Doesn't that grow in the rainforest?"  or read the books and ask yourself, "Just where do they get all of the raw materials for things like forcefields, hovercrafts, and even cars?" Congratulations!  You've asked the core questions that led to this Meta.</p>
            </blockquote>





	[META] Debunking the One Product Planet (or why the districts have to have more than one industry)

Everyone knows each district in Panem has a specialty.  District Twelve is coal.  District Four is fishing.  District Seven is lumber.  We could go on.

 

In fact, the only district we don’t have real spelled out canon on is District Nine.  The movies, the Hunger Games Panem Rising App Game, and the Tribute Guide list the industry as grain.  The only canon hints we get are the following.  In Chapter Sixteen of Catching Fire, Katniss mentions that a pair of the tributes are dressed as bread.  This is after she’s been introduced to Chaff and Seeder from District Eleven in Chapter Fifteen.  It can’t be them, because as unobservant as Katniss is, she would’ve noticed their costumes when she spoke to them - she noticed Finnick’s and Johanna’s.  There are also mentions of fields of wheat in some district during the Victory Tour, Katniss doesn’t say where.  So based on that, we decided that District Nine’s industry is, in fact, grain.  

 

The problem is, our narrator is incredibly unobservant. In addition, she isn’t very free with details.  As a character, Katniss isn’t curious.  Nor is she interested in anything other than surviving to see the next sunrise.  She takes what she’s told at face value until proven otherwise.  So in the eyes of our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, and according to how how the districts are portrayed in the Capitol, each district only has one industry or product they produce… but is it true?

 

The answer is categorically no.  

 

There’s lots of reasons why this can’t be true - economic, geographic, ecologic, geologic, and, finally, sociologic.  This meta will attempt to cover these reasons.  We’ll be making reference to our [ Map of Panem ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4809488) for some of this.  

 

Let’s start with the simplest.  Geologic.  Certain products and elements only can occur in certain places.  Gold is only found [ in certain areas ](http://www.cmi-gold-silver.com/blog/10-most-prolific-gold-fields-in-the-world/) .  Specifically along the [ edges of subduction zones, areas where there’s been volcanic activity, and crater impact sites ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Occurrence).

 

This can explain why gold is found in places like Alaska, California, Mexico, and South Africa.  Gold, Nicholas Flamel aside, is not a product that can be manufactured in a lab.  The same thing is true for other metals, like copper, silver, iron, tin, uranium, zinc, and aluminum.  No one district is listed as mining these things in canon, however we have categoric proof that these items exist, the Mockingjay Pin being the prime example.   Which is described as:

_At the last minute, I remember Madge’s little gold pin.  For the first time, I get a good look at it.  It’s as if someone fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. The bird is connected to the ring only by its wing tips.  I suddenly recognize it.  A mockingjay.  (The Hunger Games, Chapter 3)_

 

Gold could be reclaimed from existing hoards, but in the cases of copper, silver, and iron, once those metals are exposed to air and other elements for any length of time, they experience chemical reactions.  Iron [ rusts ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust) , silver [ tarnishes ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarnish) , copper [ corrodes ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrosion).  And in order to fuel certain industries such as electronics, transportation, and luxury goods, not to mention farming, mining, and lumber, you have to have metal, and metal has to be mined.  

 

District Two is the only district where the all-purpose catchall of “mining” takes place.  The problem being that, unless District Two happens to spread from California to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and down into Mexico and then over into the deep south, there’s absolutely no way that one district can even come close to providing the base metal ores needed to sustain all of the other industries. Therefore, more districts than just District Two have to have mines.  

 

Take uranium, for example.  We know from canon that both the Capitol and District Thirteen have nuclear capabilities.  But that uranium has to come from someplace, and while District Two could potentially provide the Capitol’s, where does Thirteen get their uranium?  That’s a question that needs to be answered.  And the simplest answer is, they mined it.  [ Canada ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_mining) is one of the largest miners of Uranium today.  And there are several [ former and proposed mines ](http://www.world-nuclear.org/uploadedImages/org/info/Country_Profiles/Countries_A_to_C/canada-u-map.gif) near where we placed Thirteen.  

 

You can create gems.  You can to some degree synthesize some minerals.  You cannot create metals.  So simply to have the advanced society that the Capitol has, they have to be provided with the raw materials for it.  And those raw materials are only located in very specific and finite geologic locations.

 

Geographic is the next category we have to consider.  Certain industries cannot occur in certain locations.  As the current [ water crisis in California ](http://ca.gov/drought/) proves, having massive farms in the desert is an unsustainable solution.  And as much as you might like to, you cannot farm shellfish or tuna in the Rocky Mountains.  So districts have to be located where certain geographical features occur.  Oceans. Forests.  Plains.

 

The descriptions of some of the foods, specifically shellfish, are almost non-indicative.  Katniss only mentions shrimp and shellfish as coming from Four in the books.  If there’s one thing modern man has learned, it’s that fishery stocks [ can be overfished ](http://overfishing.org/pages/why_is_overfishing_a_problem.php) .  And while aquaculture can solve some of the problem, it brings a whole [ host of other issues ](http://fishery.about.com/od/ProblemsinAquaculture/a/Aquaculture-Problems-Inherent-To-Aquaculture.htm).  And in most cases, fish farms are along existing water sources.  Because like a person with an aquarium, you have to clean your tank every so often.  

 

So having only one district do all the fishing is impossible.  Unless District Four encompasses the entirety of the North American coastline, both Pacific and Atlantic, there is no way possible for District Four to be able to provide the sheer amount of seafood consistently that the Capitol requires. [  And as was recently reported ](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/25/443466718/we-leave-half-of-all-our-seafood-on-the-table-and-in-the-trash?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150926), most of the seafood caught ends up the trash because it goes bad or is perceived to go bad quickly.

 

In addition, there are [ several fish that can only be found in certain geographical locales. ](http://www.fishwatch.gov/seafood_profiles/index.htm)   [ Trout ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout#Habitat) like fast-moving rocky-bottomed streams while fish like tilapia, [ perch ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perch#Habits) , and catfish prefer muddy-bottomed lakes and rivers.  The best-known [ lobsters ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobster_fishing) come from New England while the best known crab is from the [ Pacific Northwest ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_king_crab_fishing) or [ Chesapeake Bay ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callinectes_sapidus) .   [ Cod ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Gadus_morhua-Atlantic_cod.png) is found in northern waters while sushi specialties like [ snapper ](http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/redsnapper/redsnapper.html) and [ yellowtail ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_amberjack) tend to be more southern and mid-latitude.  There’s a reason Japan’s fishing fleets are found all over the world.  District Four would have to do the same and for military reasons the Capitol wouldn’t allow any district to have boats that could reach any other distant lands/continents.  People would run.  If faced with the choice of the Hunger Games and someplace else, most people will pick someplace else.  

 

So Four cannot do all the fishing, and by the same token, Seven can’t provide all of the lumber.  Forests take time to regrow and [ deforestation ](http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html) is a very real issue.  Johanna does not talk about Seven being a nomadic society and where Johanna’s [ pines and evergreens ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longleaf_pine_ecosystem) live means Effie’s mahogany cannot.  While Johanna’s pines are northern trees, mahogany is only found in rainforests.   [ Mahogany ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahogany) can be grown in the jungles of Central America while wholly [ conifer forests ](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/Biome/bioconiferous.php) that would be similar to Thirteen are primarily found significantly farther north.  And that doesn’t take into consideration other woods used in furniture-making and construction, woods like oak, maple, elm, and cherry.  Those woods are only able to be grown in [ temperate deciduous forests ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate_deciduous_forest).  So while District Seven can provide the majority of the lumber for Panem, it cannot provide all of it.

 

Which naturally takes us into ecologic reasons why the districts have to have more than one industry.  Certain crops do not grow in certain climates.  Even the introduction of greenhouses doesn’t take that away.  To have enough apple orchards to provide for the Capitol’s needs while having enough strawberries, almonds, peaches, and cherries, means that unless there are miles upon miles of specialized greenhouses which are able hold whole orchards, District Eleven cannot produce them all.  [ Cherries ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry#North_America) and [ apples ](http://www.orangepippintrees.com/articles/fruit-tree-advice/growing-apple-trees-in-the-north-american-climate) in particular tend to prefer the northern climes and fruits like [ cranberries ](http://wildfoodism.com/2014/11/19/the-simple-guide-to-locating-identifying-and-harvesting-wild-cranberries-or-any-wild-food-using-these-6-steps/) and [ blueberries ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry#United_States) are most prevalent in the moist deciduous woods of the same locations.  On the other end of the spectrum are plants like [ coffee ](https://cornerofthecafe.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/coffee_belt.jpg) and [ cacao ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/2005cocoa_bean.PNG), which are massively dependent on more equatorial climes, rather than temperate zones.  

 

It is biologically impossible to grow the massive quantities needed of chocolate, rice, apples, etc. in the same geographic region.  Small quantities?  Yes.  Massive quantities needed to feed thousands? No.  There’s a reason why the United States imports most of its chocolate from [ Africa and Central and South America ](http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-10-cocoa-producing-countries.html).  So while District Eleven can provide the majority of the refrigerator crops (fruits and vegetables that must be kept cold in order not to spoil), it cannot provide all of them.  

 

As a point of interest, today many of the refrigerator crops not grown in California or the South come from Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin, not states most people think of when they think of farming.  In addition, Eleven, because of its geographic location, has to provide some items that would be stereotypically considered as coming from Districts Eight or Nine, for example [ cotton ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_production_in_the_United_States) and [ rice ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_production_in_the_United_States) . Wool needs to come from District Ten.  Silk comes from mulberries, which can grow in the climate of District Eight, but Eight can’t provide a lot of their own raw materials and they cannot, because of the [ lack of petroleum](http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2014/0714/How-long-will-world-s-oil-reserves-last-53-years-says-BP), produce many of the synthetic textiles, such as polyester, rayon, and nylon, that we’ve come to rely on today.

 

Economically, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to have districts only create one item when their items are dependent on several raw materials that they themselves do not source locally.  An example of this is District Six and transportation.  To build a car, you need rubber, which means you need [ rubber plants ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hevea_brasiliensis) because again… petroleum is not an option, steel, which means you need iron ore  and also coal  , fabric or leather for seats, electronics to run things such as a radio, navigations, anything like that, sealants, axles, transmissions, and carburetors, which, as anyone knows who’s had their [ catalytic convertor stolen](http://www.nationwide.com/catalytic-converter-theft.jsp), contain gold.  So canonically, District Six produces none of these items.  However, if they can provide the number one most needed item, [ iron](http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/iron_ore/mcs-2013-feore.pdf), themselves, the lesser materials they can source from other districts.  

 

The same is true for District Three and electronics.  You need various metals, you need plastic, which means you need to have a source of petroleum, which at this point in Panem is at a premium, and you need various minerals, like silicon and graphite.  You even need precious stones such as sapphires and diamonds - these are used in the creation of certain electronic devices.  According to canon, District Three doesn’t produce any of those.  And some of these items we listed aren’t easily covered in the umbrellas that the districts are shoved under.  Where does plastic come from for example… but that’s a topic of another meta.

 

[ Early in America’s history](http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gfeldmeth/chartcoltrade.html), one of the core causes of colonist dissent was that the colonies were being forced to ship raw materials over to [ England and then have finished products shipped back ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navigation_Acts).  It made those finished products prohibitively expensive and out of reach of all but the most wealthy.  Britain, naturally, wanted this extra revenue, but in the case of Panem, it doesn’t make sense for items that are going to end up in the Capitol to waste what precious fuel they have transporting them across thousands of miles only to transport them back thousands of miles for the Capitol’s use.  It’s less about the economics of the districts and more about the economics of the Capitol.

 

Additionally, the more dependent on a specific industry a certain location is, the more precipitous their existence.  A good historical example is the  Irish Potato Famine  , when millions of Irish starved or emigrated because their crops were devastated by a single disease, potato blight.  There are now [ more people of Irish descent ](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/17/the-irish-american-population-is-seven-times-larger-than-ireland/) living in the American East Coast than there are in all of Ireland because of this.  While the Capitol doesn’t necessarily care about the district populations, they do care about what effects the loss of that population has on them.  Look at the discussion with Katniss’s prep team and their bemoaning the loss of shellfish or certain textiles because of the rebellion taking place within those districts.  If a blight, such as ergot, decimated District Nine’s grain fields, all of Panem would starve.

 

Sociologically, the Capitol has to have control of certain core industries, specifically the three Ms: military, medical, and muttations.  The Capitol cannot completely outsource all of its military power to District Two if they want to maintain a slave population.  What would happen if Two revolted?  And as we see in Mockingjay, the Capitol still has troops in addition to the pods in order to defend themselves against the combined efforts of the districts and Thirteen.

 

Gale swings into the doorway, landing in a heap on the floor. For a moment, I experience the elation of his rescue. Then the white-gloved hands clamp down on him.  (Mockingjay, Chapter 24)

 

They learned that lesson during the Dark Days when they outsourced the production of nuclear weapons to District Thirteen.  Then that district rose up and rebelled against their overlords, using the same industry against their masters.  The Capitol would have learned its lesson and pulled back any industries regarding arms, medicine, or muttations to the Capitol itself.  

 

There’s another reason as well.  People in the Capitol have to work.  Otherwise you get idle populations who become discontent, just look at [ Greece ](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11554873/Why-theres-little-hope-for-Greeces-unemployed.html) .  People who don’t have something to keep them occupied start to feel dissatisfied and many become depressed.  This can lead to revolt or revolution if you aren’t careful, hello [ Arab Spring ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring).  The Hunger Games themselves only last a maximum of three weeks a year.  The remaining forty nine, the people of the Capitol have to have something to do, and being idle, while appealing in the short term, ultimately leads to dissatisfaction.  So in order to keep the Capitolites happy, and flush with money, they have to have jobs.  In a very real sense, the Capitol is made up of almost entirely white collar workers, while the districts are mostly blue collar.  

 

On a macro level, each district can have a primary industry for which they are known and treasured, however all districts have secondary and tertiary industries.  The most common of which are mining, farming, or fishing those products which cannot be found or synthesized elsewhere.  Additionally all districts have to have consumer based industries to support the district itself (everyone needs bread and carpenters).

 

So what about District Twelve?  Katniss clearly portrays it that the only industry is coal-mining.  But that’s not really true.  There is a merchant class.  They may not be providing goods and services to the Capitol, but they are providing goods and services to the district.  There’s a butcher, an apothecary, a moonshiner, a sweet shop, a flower shop, a stationers, a guy who raises goats, prostitutes, and even a thriving black market.  While District Twelve doesn’t have a Capitol appreciated secondary industry, there are several other cottage industries that have sprung up to support the core working population of the miners and deployed Peacekeepers.

 

So where does that lead us?  Well, take a good hard look at everything described in the books and films and ask yourself: where does this come from?  And where should it, by the books’ definition, be made?  And we almost can guarantee that you’re very likely going to get two different answers.

 

The [ One Product Planet trope ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OneProductPlanet) is a problematic trope, and it is very much a trope of convenience.  Reality is, in the end, much more complex.


End file.
